Greenpeace steps up smear campaign against Bitcoin
With a new tweet, Greenpeace USA continues its smear campaign against Bitcoin and Proof of Work. Just this March, the environmental organization caused a stir in the Bitcoin space when it joined forces with other climate groups to launch the “Change the Code, Not The Climate” campaign. Notably, Ripple co-founder Larsen also provided $5 million in funding.
In today’s tweet, Greenpeace claims that Bitcoin mining is causing millions of tons of new global warming in the US. At the same time, it says, it is a myth that using methane gas that would otherwise leak out can make Bitcoin mining green.
In reality, Greenpeace said, flaring gas does nothing to reduce fossil fuel consumption but ensures that old gas wells remain open. In this vein, Paasha Mahdavi, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at UCSB and director of the EGAPE Lab, is quoted as saying:
It’s like you had a leaky gas line and instead of fixing the problem, you plugged a Humvee in next to the leak and left the engine running forever with the A/C on full blast.
Greenpeace: The Accusations Against Bitcoin’s Proof of Work
To back up its statements, Greenpeace USA is promoting a recent report from Earth Justice and the Sierra Club outlining the climate impact of Bitcoin.
The report presented by Greenpeace is titled “The Energy Bomb: How Proof-of-Work Cryptocurrency Mining Worsens the Climate Crisis and Harms Communities Now,” and claims to document the explosive growth of Bitcoin mining in the United States. In particular, the report aims to illustrate how Bitcoin mining increases “reliance on climate-warming fossil fuels”.
According to the study authors, the past two years have shown that the Bitcoin mining industry is seeking readily available energy with minimal regulation by bringing idle coal and gas power plants back online. Miners typically have “little interest in investing in new clean energy.” As a result, PoW miners are responsible for higher electricity prices for residential customers and increase overall CO2 emissions and local air pollution.
Image: Bitcoin.com
Similarly, the mining industry floods the unstructured electricity market in Texas and taps into power grids with little regulatory oversight. Furthermore, the study accuses the industry of “greenwashing” and “fiction”.
For example, most miners buy electricity from the grid. In addition, it says, few mining facilities are actually building new renewable energy into their operations.
Ultimately, the study urges regulators and policy makers worldwide to implement steps in the form of bans to reduce the harms of mining.
The back story of BTC mining
One of the leading voices in the Bitcoin space when it comes to dispelling myths surrounding Bitcoin mining, Daniel Batten, set out to disprove these theories. As Batten outlined, Bitcoin’s emissions are lower than those of stocks like Apple or Microsoft, which have not been actively criticized by Greenpeace.
Also false is the claim that Proof of Work mining prioritizes the short-term need for large amounts of electricity over long-term investments in renewable energy. On the contrary, Bitcoin is recognized by grid operators to increase investments in renewable energy.
Claim: “proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining prioritizes the short-term need for large amounts of electricity over long-term investments in renewable energy.”
False: Bitcoin is recognized by grid operators as increasing investment in renewable energy
— Daniel Batten (@DSBatten) 18 October 2022
Research from Batten also shows that mining Bitcoin using methane can remove 13 times more emissions from the environment than coal puts into it. Through this, Bitcoin mining can reduce 0.15°C of climate change.
In this context, mining is carbon negative because it uses methane gas that flares into the air to generate electricity. The use of flared gas for bitcoin mining has grown by ~8.3MW/month since May ’21. In this regard, Batten estimates:
Use of flared gas to power Bitcoin mining has grown by ~8.3MW/month since May ’21. If the use of vented gas to power Bitcoin mining grows by just 6.9 MW/month – the Bitcoin network will become Carbon Negative in Dec ’24.
187.1 MW of power is all that is needed. There are around 50 landfills. It is a small part of what exists. In the United States alone, there are 1,400 landfills that vent directly into the atmosphere.
BTC price still shows little volatility and is trading below $20,000.
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